It's a cryptic message under the TF2 medic statue. No way the HL2 Korean update was a coincidence.The devs of Surgeon Simulator have confirmed the existence of a puzzle.TF2 also got a 30+MB update to fix "an error with tags" and Portal 2 got an update to "reduce brightness of textures". While those two updates may not be related to this, they do seem fishy, especially that Portal 2 update.

EDIT: The Korean text translates to "time".The dots in the puzzle seem a whole lot like our Solar System, with the arrow coming out from Saturn (Saturn even has it's rings). I would also like to point out that we can see Saturn again for the first time in 7 years on July 19th.

It would seem possible that the Surgeon Simulator devs are fooling around, but this update came -before- the HL2 update that turned HL2 into a big pile of Korean and Steam Support tweeted in Korean with "Prepare for unforeseen consequences".
I really doubt that was a coincidence.

Staff Member

If its all just about tf2 then why did half-life 2 have the Korean thing? Also, a quick google search will tell you the "Saturn coming closer" bit is not true.

Click to expand...

One of three language packs modified in the update glitched, causing every language setting to display only Korean. The patch has now been fixed, meaning it is purely a coincidence, or the guys behind Surgeon Simulator 2013 are having a good laugh round about now.

One of three language packs modified in the update glitched, causing every language setting to display only Korean. The patch has now been fixed, meaning it is purely a coincidence, or the guys behind Surgeon Simulator 2013 are having a good laugh round about now.

Click to expand...

Well, it *may* be a coincidence, but it should probably be pointed that the "Korean puzzle" in Surgeon Simulator was introduced few days ago, when the TF2 DLC was released, before the HL2 patch "glitched".

I remember seeing a Simpson’s episode with the Funzos, where the people behind the company creating them were watching the consumers getting anxious at the front of the store. They were also making profit projections based on if there was any trampling when things got out of hand. This might very well be something similar, Valve could simply be testing how we all react to each and every "nothing" they throw out there and project what that means in terms of profit.

They may even have all the damned HL games ready to go and just waiting for the right moment to launch depending on the hype. If this is true, get ready for a long, long wait...

Cause I can't register for the Neogaf forum and someone on there was asking for some topographical information and I thought it was a kinda cool idea, I'll post it here instead.

Edit Two: The North Korean Connection:
North Korean Cold Weather Head Gear-
Did we ever get a final answer on what language that character is? -
Korean Military Mi-8 -
2008 Artwork:
Last Scene of Half-Life 2: Episode 2:

Useful Searches

About Us

In March of 2003, a mystic crowbar appeared in Edge magazine, signifying that a long-awaited sequel to Half-Life was approaching. Munro formed this site almost immediately, as a place for people to share every snippet of information available about the upcoming sequel, as well as discuss it with other fans of the series.